Knights has completed the acquisition of Meade King LLP, a long-established independent law firm in Bristol.
The acquisition sees Knights expand its nationwide presence and strengthen its position in the South West alongside existing offices in Cheltenham and Exeter.
Twenty-seven professionals have joined Knights from Meade King – taking Knights to more than 1,500 professionals in total and strengthening its corporate, real estate, dispute resolution and private wealth teams.
James Christacos, Client Services Director at Knights, said:
“Today is a big milestone for us and the brilliant colleagues joining us in Knights’ Bristol office. We’re really pleased to welcome them to the team.
“This deal is a first step into Bristol, and we are focused on exploring larger acquisitions in the city, and recruiting high quality talent in the city to enable us to build significant scale and expand across the region.
"With very significant external investment and financial firepower, together with our strong business model and unique one-team culture, Knights is an attractive alternative for law firm partners who wish to further their careers without the financial burden of the partnership model."
Meade King is Knights’ 21st acquisition, and its 19th since its IPO in 2018.
In that time, Knights has grown revenues from £35m to £125m and become the UK’s largest commercial legal services business outside London.
The addition of Bristol takes Knights to 23 locations across the UK.
James Sheridan, Knights’ Group M&A Director, said:
“We are delighted to be entering a new market as we cement our position as the leading legal and professional service business outside London. We welcome our new colleagues and look forward to working with them to strengthen our foothold in Bristol.”
James Hawkins, Corporate Partner at Knights, based in Bristol, said:
“Having built a competitive position in Bristol and delivered strong growth over the past two years, we are thrilled to be joining Knights, which has a strong reputation in the regions across the UK. As we enter the next phase of our growth as part of a larger group, we are excited by the benefits that Knights’ scale, deep central resource and unique business model will bring to our people and our clients.”